Tuesday, October 14 2014

 The tailing dumps in Armenia meet no standards, Karine Danielyan, Head of the Association for Sustainable Human Development NGO, says in an interview with ArmInfo.   

The expert points out that the tailing dumps are not properly isolated from the environment, particularly, from the subsoil water. "Consequently, we face contamination with heavy metals, degradation of ecosystems and biodiversity. This also seriously affects human health. No wonder people suffer from infertility and oncological diseases in the settlements adjacent to the deposits", she says. 

Danielyan also says that the country mostly deals with opencast development of deposits, which enhances the environmental risks. "Opencast development is cheaper and more profitable for the mining companies.  In this case, the financial interests of international organizations and some people from Armenia prevail over the nationwide interests", she stresses. 

She adds that there are already environmental refugees in Armenia. "If the situation does not change, the number of the refugees will grow", says the expert.  
According to the Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situations, there are 19 tailing dumps with a total area of 1400 hectares in Armenia. Earlier Hakob Sanasaryan, Head of the Green Union of Armenia, told ArmInfo that almost all the tailing dumps in Armenia are in the riverbeds and, therefore, contain serious risks. Heavy metals and toxic elements penetrate into the rivers, reservoirs and irrigation systems.      

The inactive tailing dumps are also very dangerous. Environmentalists have repeatedly pointed out that the rehabilitation of the closed tailing dumps is not done properly.  The bottom of the tailing dumps is not isolated. So, the heavy metals penetrate into the subsoil water systems. In addition, the surface dust pollutes the environment.